The odds might have been stacked against him somewhat during the latest round of the 2011 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Thruxton, but Callum Bowyer refused to be intimidated by either a litany of troubles or the fearsome reputation of the fastest track in Britain – and his reward was his third-best single-seater result to-date.
Having graduated into car racing this year off the back of a hugely successful national karting career, Callum’s sole prior experience of the ultra-quick Hampshire circuit had come during pre-season testing – and in wet conditions to-boot, just to add to the challenge. He returned champing at the bit to rediscover it.
“I felt quite optimistic,” asserted the talented young Peterborough speed demon, “because although we hadn’t had many days in the car at that stage, the test had gone pretty well, and we’re that much further into the season now, too. I immediately loved the speed of it – Thruxton is just so incredibly fast, and you need to have a lot of confidence in the car round there.
“There are only two real braking-points, and apart from that, the rest of the lap is flat-out – by the time you get to the second braking-zone, your brakes are almost cold again because you haven’t used them since the start of the lap, and there are times when you just have to close your eyes!”
Unfortunately, practice would not get proceedings off to the brightest of starts, with a variety of issues denying Callum valuable track time – and in completing barely half the laps of many of his adversaries, he was left facing ‘an uphill struggle’ around such a confidence-reliant circuit.
Consequently not as well-prepared as he would have liked to have been heading into qualifying, the 17-year-old Gunthorpe ace maturely treated Saturday as ‘a fresh day’. Although he conceded to being disappointed to place only 11th on the grid for the two races – confessing that ‘it just didn’t really click’ – in the circumstances, it was a case of damage limitation. With the tow worth as much as half-a-second-a-lap at Thruxton, finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time out on-track cost Callum dear. Barely two tenths of a second more, and he would have been lining up sixth – but still, at least his lower grid slot enabled the Antel Motorsport star to showcase his superb racecraft and overtaking skills once again in the opening encounter.
“I had started from further back than that before and come through the pack,” he phlegmatically mused, “so I was just focussed on carving my way up the order. I lost a position at the start, but then I got my head down and tried to fight my way through as best I could. The race was cut short due to an accident, so we only completed six full laps – but during that time, I managed to overtake five cars to finish seventh. I was really pleased with that, and I felt like we could have made up even more ground if the race had carried on.”
Tallying some decent points into the bargain, he was targeting a similar outcome in race two, but unexpected understeer allied to a loss of straight-line speed caused by a change in the wind meant that before long, Callum had a string of fellow competitors queuing right up behind him and piling on the pressure.
Forced into a rearguard action, his defence sadly reached a premature conclusion just over two laps from the chequered flag when another driver tried to pass him into the tight chicane at the end of the lap – and as the pair braked from the fastest part of the circuit and attempted to go through it side-by-side, it was a classic case of two-into-one won’t go.
Brushing it off as a racing incident and shaking hands with his rival to prove that there were no hard feelings, the former British Karting Champion now has his sights firmly set on moving up from 12th in the title standings into the top ten in the season finale around the celebrated ‘Home of British Motor Racing’, Silverstone. During winter testing there – his first day in the car in the dry – Callum had lapped sixth-quickest. A repeat performance would be just the ticket to round out what has been a hugely promising rookie campaign.
“We were on the back foot right from Friday practice, and that ultimately took its toll in the races,” he concluded of Thruxton. “The first one could have been even better if it hadn’t been for the red flag, and race two just wasn’t meant to be, I guess. It was all more good experience, though, and I learned a lot over the course of the weekend – so we’ve just got to continue building on that now.
“There should be a pretty big crowd at Silverstone and a really good atmosphere with it being on the British Touring Car Championship package, and it will be live on ITV4 with lots of influential people there so it will be a good shop window. I’m really looking forward to it – and to ending my first season in cars on a high!”
Callum is seeking sponsorship to help him to continue progressing his burgeoning motor racing career; if you are interested in supporting him, please contact Tracey Bowyer on 01733 701099
